Video Rental Wars Taking a Toll on BBI, NFLX, CSTR
The battle for control of the DVD rental market is heating up, and taking a toll on all of the key players–retail store leader Blockbuster (BBI), DVD-by-mail player Netflix (NFLX) and $1-a-day kiosk operator Redbox, a unit of Coinstar (CSTR).
Last night, Blockbuster reported worse-than-expected results for the second quarter, and trimmed its full year guidance. The Street’s view is that the company is being hurt by a combination of its heavy debt load, slowing customer traffic and heightened competition from Redbox and other kiosk operators.
